Analysis Of The Wonders Of The Invisible World By Cotton Mather

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Cotton Mather 's The Wonders of the Invisible World is a text that is attempting to justify the transpiring of the Salem Witch trial. This text is rich with biblical allusions and an effort to bring to a society that is filled with chaos and confusion, a sense of order and structure as well as something to believe in. However, while attempting to do so, Mather does not entirely offer a distinct opinion on if the trails are justified or not. Whereas this text was created with the purpose of supporting the Salem Witch trials and their primary cause, in the preface to the account of the trails themselves, Mather offers a diverse viewpoint concerning these trials. In The Wonders of the Invisible World Mather 's proves to be an unreliable narrator …show more content…

Through his “justification” of the Salem Witch trials, Mather proves to be an unreliable narrator. Mather specifically states that, “For my own part, I was not present at any of them; nor ever had I any personal prejudice at the persons thus brought upon the stage” (The Wonders of the Invisible World 557). Mather is providing information to the readers that he himself was not even present for. This reduces his own authority since he is receiving, as well as giving, this information to his audience secondhand. Furthermore, this statement brings to light the question of if Mather himself supported the trials. This is further supported through his statement of “But having received a command so to do, I can do no other than shortly relate the chief matters of fact” (The Wonders of the Invisible World 557). Here Mather is providing his audience with an important question of, is he composing this because he supports the trials and their supposed purpose, or is he simply doing this because he was “commanded” to do so? He purposely avoids his own feelings in regard to this and mentions that “I can do no other than shortly relate the chief matters of fact” (The Wonders of the Invisible World 557). This is providing a detached, unbiased view from Mather that is severing his connection emotionally from the right or wrong of these trials. By adopting this strategy, Mather is providing an unclear view to his audience concerning the justification of these

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